Ino's Team
by Scepidilionz
Summary: Ino Yamanaka becomes a sensei. Somehow, her students become attached to Shikamaru and even begin thinking of him as a second sensei. However, there is a major change and Ino's life and things will never be the same. Will Shikamaru be able to help her or will the stress push them apart?
1. Good Morning Sensei

**Author's Note:**

**I've been planning to write the fanfic for quite awhile but**

**never really had the time for it. I've been **

**planning it in my head for what seems like forever now!**

**I really hope everyone enjoys it as much as I enjoy writing it,**

**and I would really appreciate if some of you reading this**

**left a review or sent me a PM to let me know what you thought.**

**Also, I would like to give credit to my younger sister**

**for helping me create the two boys' names!**

**.**

**So here it is! Chapter one of Ino's team!**

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Chapter one:

Good morning sensei

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Ino Yamanaka blinked questioningly at the fifth hokage, "Tsunade-sama... You want _me _to become a... Sensei?" Becoming a sensei would mean holding the lives and futures of three young innocent genin in her own two hands. Ino was usually confident in herself, but the young kunoichi was still contemplating as to whether or not she was capable of handling such a massive responsibility.

"That's correct." The sannin folded her hands and rested them upon her wooden desk. "It's a big responsibility, but I firmly believe that you are the right person for the task." These particular academy graduates needed special attention and they were all able of becoming spectacular assets to the hidden leaf. However, they not only needed a sensei, but proper parent figures as well. "here are their files, please read up on them. Your students are quite unique and difficult to get information out of. You'll be needing all the information you could possibly get on them before meeting them."

"Thank-you Lady Hokage." The florist bowed respectfully then took the manilla folders. "I'll be sure to read them." She was definitely curious as to who her team would consist of. She was extremely excited but also slightly concerned, what if she messed up? First impressions were so important and if she messed up the children might end up hating her forever...

Tsunade smiled seeing the worry on her face. It was obvious that she was anxious, even a fool could tell. "You'll do fine, Ino. I picked you specifically for this team because I have complete faith in you."

Ino's head turned back up as Tsunade's words of encouragement reached her ears. The sentence did cheer her up a little, but being held to such high standards made her stomach flutter. "Thank-you for such a compliment Tsunade-sama."

The fifth's expression immediately shifted back to her usual poker-face, even though she had never won a bet with it. She then dismissed the newly appointed sensei after telling her that she would meet up with her team at noon the following ay outside the academy.

...

Ino sat down on the old swing outside the academy. The sun was shining it's midday rays over Konoha and the introductions would soon be taking place. Ino decided that she should probably refresh her memory and reread the files yet again.

First was Diro of the Hitsugyama clan. He was thirteen years old and born in late October. His hair was onyx colored, sleek, and short, just long enough to frame both sides of his face. His eyes shone a deep shade of chocolate brown and he was the tallest of the three genin, but only by an inch. His personality was described as quiet and reserved, but with a tinge of arrogance. He was perfectly healthy and his test scores soared way beyond average.

Diro and his mother were the only survivors of the Hitsugyama clan. The rest of their clan had died during the nine-tailed fox attack. Their clan was small before and all of them were ninja except for his mother who married into the clan.

Second, belonging to the Mikyogame clan was the girl of the team, Yume. She was twelve and born in April. Her cascaded down her back in slight golden waves until it reached her lower back. Her eyes were a chilling blue and she was slightly shorter than both of the boys. She was extremely shy and would avoid confrontation and people whenever possible. Her test scores of written and private exams were high enough to make a life long scholar feel extremely ignorant, but in exams that were taken in front of other students her test scores took an extremely significant drop to be at slightly above average level.

There were two major unusual things about Yume. The first being that her clan had been entirely wiped out due to an extremely rare genetic condition that would almost always lead to a young death. Her immediate family, which consisted of only her and her parents, were the only ones left of the clan. The second was that she very probably possessed and unidentified Kekkei Genkai.

All Kekkei Genkai begin with a single individual receiving a mutated gene. The gene would be passed down through the generations and more and more people would possess it. Even very prominent Kekkei Genkai such as the byakugan and the sharingan had started that way. Yume was believed to have such a mutated gene, and because she was possibly the first of a new line of Kekkei Genkai users, just what this new Kekkei Genkai did had not yet been determined. It would also take time for her Kekkei Genkai to develop and become apparent.

Lastly, there was Ryou Kirugayo. Like Yume, he was also twelve, though he was born in March. His brown hair was kept in a messy style covering his right peridot colored eye. He was described as being incessantly lazy, but having a rare playful side. He didn't really care much for test and would sometimes not even bother taking then. Those he did take, he would only answer enough questions so that he would receive a passing grade.

For the team as a whole, they were special. Yume was not the only one to possibly have a Kekkei Genkai, she was just the one who most probably had one. Diro and Ryou could as well. Not to mention they were all extremely intelligent.

Ino sighed, all three were considered to be geniuses. So basically she would be dealing with three more Shikamarus.

...

The bell to the academy finally rang and the new genin hurried out the doors completely ecstatic to meet their new sensei. Ino had fallen asleep after reading and was awoken by a very light tap on her shoulder.

"Um... Excuse me..." Ino looked up to see who the tiny voice was coming from and instantly recognized the speaker as Yume. "Are you... Miss Ino-Sensei?" Yume was looking down at the dirt as she spoke, clearly trying to avoid eye contact.

Ino sat up to face her properly, "Yes I am, and you must be Yume right?"She knew Yume would be shy from the files, but she had not expected it to be quite this extreme.

"Mhm." Yume nodded, keeping her eyes fixed where they were. She was happy to finally meet her sensei, but she was hoping that Ino wouldn't ask her any more questions or try to get her to speak more.

Ino sensed how uncomfortable Yume was and decided not to push any further. She would have to get Yume to warm up to her over time and she didn't want to intimidate the genin more so than she already was.

Next up, and excites brunette bounced over, "Good morning sensei." He handed Ino a white lily, "My name is Kirugayo Ryou. It is quite the pleasure to meet you."

Ino blushed and looked at the flower, "Why thank-you Ryou. It's nice to meet you too." Ino immediately recognized the flower as a symbol of femininity when the florist part of her took over her mind.

Ryou looked around and blinked, "I suppose Diro is late..." The three were already acquainted from their time together in the academy and vaguely knew what each other would be like. Ryou understood very well that he and Diro were not very likely to get along and they often avoided each other as much as possible in the classroom; but now they would be forced to not only be near each other, but _stand _each other and work well together as a part of the some ninja team.

"Am not." The third genin slowly walked over with his hands in his pockets, "I was merely not rushing in order to avoid the chaos at the doors." He turned to Ino, "Good morning my name is Hitsugyama Diro."

Ino smiled, "I'm Yamanaka Ino, but please just call me Ino or sensei." She stood up, her confidence finally returning to her and setting her mind to becoming the best sensei ever. "How about we go to our training grounds and get to know each other better, okay team three?"

The three kids nodded and smiled then followed their sensei to what would become their training grounds.

'Wow, I'm a sensei now.' Ino thought as she smiled and walked slightly ahead of her team.

...

...

**Well, that's chapter one! Please let me**

**know what you thought about it and I hope**

**you enjoyed reading it and are looking forward **

**to the next chapter!**

**-Scepidilionz-**


	2. Trees, Introductions, and Challenges

**Thank you to everyone who has given me a review and read!**

**The support means very much to me, and**

**I'm ecstatic that all of the reviews were positive!**

**I'll be honest, with the complete disaster of**

**my last two stories (Which I even stopped**

**writing because of how awful it was.) I was **

**surprised with how people reacted to chapter one.**

**THANK YOU! :D**

**.**

**Well here's chapter two, I hope it doesn't disappoint!**

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**Chapter Two:**

Trees, Introductions, and Challenges

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Ino smiled as their training grounds came into view. They as a unit would spend many hours training there until they were so exhausted that they could hardly move. There was the place that she would watch her team grow. She would always be there to help them, no matter how trivial the situation was, like Asuma had done for her.

Memories came flashing back to Ino's mind, like her first trip to her training grounds and meeting Asuma-sensei. To when she only knew Shikamaru and Choji through her dad and how annoying they were when they put down Sasuke. How they always tried to run from trouble.

Things had changed dramatically since her genin days. Her sensei had become like a second father to her and Shikamaru and Choji were her two best friends in the world. Ino-Shika-Cho didn't run away anymore, they relied on each other to get the job done. Becoming a ninja was what she considered to be the best decision of her life.

Now she would have the chance to pass her joys and her experiences on to her students. To make them as happy as she was and to help them grow like Ino-Shika-Cho.

She led them to a small hill in the center of the grounds then turned to them and smiled, "Team three, this is where we will train together. Take a look around, this place will practically become your second home." She thought about her first training area and smiled a little more. She had spent so much time there that she had literally had the entire place completely memorized.

The three swiveled their heads around. They noticed the trees, small trees, tall trees, stream and pond. In their minds, all of the little details seemed relatively insignificant at the moment.

Ino sat down on the hill and watched them until she decided that it was time to move on, "Okay you three, come sit down so we can talk!" Excitement soaked her tone.

They quietly walked over and sat in front of her. Ino got the feeling that silence would become a very common occurrence. She would have to be the one to get the conversation started, "I congratulate you three on graduated the academy and becoming genin! Being a ninja will be tough, but I promise that it will be worth it!" When she saw that their only response was merely a small nod, she knew that the only way to get them to talk would be to ask a question, "Why don't you tell me about yourselves? Why did you decide to become a shinobi? What are your goals?"

Ryou was the first to speak up. He comically cleared his throat then started, "I became a shinobi because I feel like it's where my future is."

Diro was the next to talk, feeling that unlike Ryou, he actually had a legitimate reason for becoming a shinobi. Apparently Ryou wasn't intelligent enough to realize that the future would come no matter what path he decided to take. "To be a shinobi is to protect one's homeland with every ounce of life-force that we possess. I want to make certain that tragedy never strikes Konoha again."

"Those are both excellent reasons to become a shinobi." Ino turned to the most quiet member of the team, "What about you, Yume?"

Yume looked downward as her heart began to panic. "I... I uh..." She could feel the others' eyes on her, "Well I..." She really wanted to tell her reason to her sensei like Ryou and Diro had done, but the words refused to leave her mouth. "Er... Because I..."

Ino giggled inwardly, "Don't worry Yume. You can tell me when you're ready." The girl looked as if she was about to die from talking, if such a thing was possible. Ino really wanted her to overcome her shyness and be able to talk freely, but was well aware that it wouldn't happen for quite awhile. "I have a challenge for you all." She stood up and turned around to face the trees, "Follow me."

It was time to test their potential

...

Ryou looked up at one of the tallest tress in the training area and thought, 'Why in the world would sensei bring us here?'

Their sensei saw the puzzlement in their expressions and knew that it was time to explain, "Undoubtedly, Iruka taught you about chakra, well I need to know how long it will take you to put what he taught you into use. You'll be needing to channel your chakra," She turned her gaze up to the very top of the ancient tree, "to climb this tree. The first to the top wins."

Diro's eyes narrowed as he pondered the assignment. There was a catch and he knew it, there's always a catch . Especially when things seem simple. "What are the rules?"

"You are not allowed to use your hands or jump from branch to branch." She paused to see their reactions, which remained surprisingly stoic, "You have to run up the side of the tree."

Ryou frowned, things had just been made a lot more difficult.

...

Yume watched as her team-mates battled their way up the tree. They were both so determined to beat the other, it intimidated her.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, "It's alright Yume! There's no reason to be so timid, so give it your best shot!"

"Miss Ino-sensei..." Yume closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She really wanted to try and scale the tree, but felt as if she did she would just get in the way of Ryou and Diro.

Ino shook her head and pat Yume's shoulder, "No excuses missy! Go!"

...

Ino looked over the genin's progress for what seemed like hours. The seemed to be improving significantly with controlling their chakra, even over such a short period of time. She closed her eyes for a moment to rest them.

Then a moment later, she heard two shocked voices exclaim, "What?!"

She opened her eyes to see all three genin standing at the base of the tree. Diro and Ryou looked stunned and Yume seemed to be trying to hide.

Ino proudly smiled and jumped up from her position in a nearby tree, "Way to go Yume!" and walked over.

Yume's cheeks turned a shade of crimson, "It's no big deal... Really..." She felt so embarrassed with everyone paying attention to her. She wanted to run and hide.

Ino turned to the two boys, "Well, not gonna let a girl beat you then resign, right? Keep practicing!"

The two nodded and continued climbing. Diro quickly made it to the top of the tree. Yume had barely beat him to it before. Ryou was only seconds behind Diro.

When they returned to ground-level, Ino hugged all three of them feeling completely ecstatic that they had done so well then dismissed them to go home and rest.

The first day was over and now the real training had to begin, but there was one problem. She hadn't been able to tell Shikamaru and Choji yet.

.

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**I sincerely hope you enjoyed chapter two!**

**Please let me know what you thought!**


	3. Failure Spies and Successful Spies

**I sincerely apologize for not updating for a few days,**

**I've been extremely busy studying for my AP **

**and Honors midterms!**

**Once again, thank you for the support everyone!**

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Chapter Three:

Failure Spies and Successful Spies

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About a week after the tree climbing, Ino Yamanaka scurried out of her room as she rushed to tie her hair up. She had to get to the village gate as quickly as possible.

She had told Ryou, Diro , and Yume to take the day off to recuperate. They had been working very hard and definitely deserved the day off. Though that wasn't the only reason she told them to rest, Shikamaru and Choji would be getting back from their mission today.

She ran as quickly as her legs would carry her towards the gate. She desperately wanted to get there before they did to surprise them. As she ran, she accidentally bumped shoulders with someone.

"Sorry!" Ino called out as she spun around to identify the figure as Hanare, one of the leaf's jonin.

Hanare tucked her dark brown hair behind her ear and averted her light green eyes, "It's alright Ino, you seem to be in a rush and it was partially my fault as well."

Ino smiled at the shy ex-ANBU, "Thank-you Hanare." She slowly turned to face the direction she had been traveling in, "I really need to go now, but it was nice seeing you again, even for a moment." Hanare generally avoided people as much as possible and preferred to work with animals instead, but she had always been a wonderful listener whenever Ino really needed to talk to someone.

"Mhm." She nodded, remembering what she had been told earlier that day, "Please tell Shikamaru and Choji that I said hello."

"I will! See you!" She waved as she ran off again. She would have to make up for the time she had lost, but didn't want to accidentally bump into someone again. She would have to be more careful.

.

Shikamaru and Choji walked through the gates of Konoha and let a sigh escape their lips, they were both extremely relieved to be back in their home town. Their mission had been so long and tiring.

"Oi, Shikamaru. Let's go get Ino and go to the Barbeque!" Choji thrust his fist into the air, full of excitement. It felt like it had been forever since the last time Ino-Shika-Cho had been to the barbeque together.

Shikamaru smiled at Choji's expected statement, "Yeah, but even though it's an extreme bother, we need to report to the hokage first." He began walking towards the hokage's mansion, "Come on Choji."

"Right." He followed his life long friend and stepped into stride beside him, "I wonder how everyone has been."

"Probably fine." He kept walking at his usual pace. It didn't seem like anything unusual had happened while they were away. Everything was just the normal, happy, Village Hidden in the Leaves.

After a short walk, Shikamaru and Choji sat down outside of the Hokage's office. A sign was displayed on the door that read, "Will return momentarily." Which clearly meant that she was busy.

Shikamaru recognized the sign as something unusual but decided to ignore it for the moment. He turned to his left and saw a familiar kunoichi, 'Hanare? No... Last time she was sent to the hokage's office, disaster struck. Something's clearly going on, but what?' He turned his head back forward just as the fifth hokage passed by.

"Ah, Choji and Shikamaru. On time as always." She took the sign off the door and tucked it underneath her arm, "I already received the report from the client, so don't worry about reporting to me quite yet. I have a few urgent things that I need to attend to, and I'm sure that there are things that you need to do." She shot the brunette kunoichi a look as she unlocked the door, "Follow me please."

Hanare stood up and dropped her hands to her side, "Yes ma'am." She smiled and waved to Shikamaru and Choji as she walked past them.

.

Ino finally got to the front gate and asked the gate guards if her friends had already been there. Much to her disappointment, she quickly learned that they had returned around a half an hour ago.

"Darn that Shikamaru!" She folded her arms across her chest as she headed back in the direction of her home, "If I didn't know any better, I'd think that they were avoiding me!" She stopped to think.

There were two places that they were most likely to be. The first being the hill that Shikamaru always watches clouds at, and the second being the barbeque. Choji was bound to be hungry after all. Since the barbeque was significantly closer, she decided that she would check there first.

As she walked up to the doors of the restaurant, she immediately heard a familiar voice yell, "Oi waiter! More pork over here!"  
She smiled as she recognized the voice of her big-boned comrade. She walked in and sat down beside her team-mates, "Well hello. Were you going to wait for me?"

Choji laughed and Shikamaru smirked. He was hoping that she was as intelligent as he gave her credit for and would find them there. He put on his usual think face, "Ino, has anything happened lately?"

Ino sensed that something was definitely bothering Shikamaru. He got straight down to what he wanted to ask as usual, "Actually, yes." She paused as she look at Choji, who was stuffing himself with pork. "I became a sensei while you two were away."

Choji set his chopsticks down on his napkin as Shikamaru inhaled sharply. Choji was the first to speak up, "Does this mean that Ino-Shika-Cho is being disbanded?"

Ino shook her head, "I doubt it. Lady hokage wouldn't separate us like that. She knows how well we work together, Ino-Shika-Cho is an asset to the village."

Shikamaru folded his hands and set them on top of the table, "Well..." What Ino had said was definitely news, but that wasn't what he was trying to get at. "Do you know why Hanare was summoned to meet with the hokage?" Hanare's specialties were summonings and animal care, and shinobi like her often specialize in tracking and information gathering.

"I honestly have no clue."

.

After eating, Shikamaru was walking Ino to her home. Diro gathered the team saying that following them would be an excellent way to practice their surveillance skills.

"I still don't think that this is a good idea... Miss Ino-Sensei won't be pleased if she discovers that we're following her..." Yume whispered to the other genin as they hid behind a shop sign.

"That's the point." Diro quietly replied. "If we don't let her notice she won't get angry, and we'll get better at tailing someone. If we get caught we obviously need to practice a lot more." He peeked his head out from behind the fabric banner to measure the distance between them and their sensei, "Get ready to move."

They snuck around the back of the shop to another one that was only ten meters behind their targets. Yume whispered even more quietly than before, "I understand that part... But..."

Ryou smiled at her, "Don't worry about it. What she doesn't know won't hurt her. Plus, don't you want to know who that guy is?"

"Well... I do... But..." She didn't want to break her sensei's trust. Her parents had taught her ever since she was really young that trust was a very fragile thing and difficult to gain back.

Diro face palmed as Ino and Shikamaru appeared behind them, "Great..." They had been caught.

Ino put her hand on her hip, "Do you three mind telly me why you're following me?" Her eyes narrowed as she looked at the three genin.

Ryou laughed nervously, "Well we... Uh..." He had never really done well under pressure.

Diro, unlike his slightly younger team-mate, kept his cool. He had rehearsed this situation in his head several times. "We were practicing our surveillance techniques like you had suggested, sensei. You were definitely right to, because we're obviously not very good at it."

Ino sighed, "Well alright, no harm done." They were actually better at sneaking around then they thought they were. She hadn't even noticed until Shikamaru had mentioned that he felt as if they were being followed. She pat Shikamaru's back, "Everyone, this is Shikamaru!"

Shikamaru leaned in close to her ear and whispered so that the genin couldn't hear, "You do realize that they were spying, right?"

Ino turned her head towards him and replied in a similar manner, "Yeah, I'll get them for it at training tomorrow."

Ryou took the chance to ask the question that they had been wondering, the true reason that they had been following their sensei, "Sensei, is he your boyfriend?"

Ino blinked in surprise, "Shikamaru! No!" She took a deep breath to relax her tone. It was an innocent question, so there really wasn't a need to freak out over it. If she did freak out, they might think that she was hiding something or lying and investigate further. "Shikamaru and I are team-mates, that's it."

Shikamaru let a small smile form on his lips. These were obviously her students, and her reaction to them made him smile. She clearly had her hands full though, it would be such a bother to be in her position as a sensei.

"So, we have two sensei then?!" Ryou looked terribly concerned. If they had two sensei they would undoubtedly train better and become better ninja, however, it would also mean that they would be working a lot more.

Diro gave Ryou a look of pure pity. Shikamaru was Ino's friend and team-mate, but that didn't necessarily mean that he would be training them as well.

Yume was the only one of the three who appeared to be relatively happy, "Nice to meet you, Shikamaru-sensei!"

"Er... Sensei?" The super-genius sighed. He had obviously jinxed it, now he some how got himself in the same position as Ino. Having three genin following him around calling him sensei was definitely going to be a pain.

Ino chuckled nervously, "Now guys, don't tease Shikamaru."

Yume blinked, "We were teasing him? Oh... I'm sorry..." she cast her eyes downward.

Shikamaru pat her back lightly, "No, you weren't. Don't worry about it." Something about seeing Yume look sad and shy just killed him inside. He didn't know why though.

They heard a cough of someone walking down the village road and Yume looked up when the sound reached her ears. "I've got to go, that's my dad." She said her good-byes and walked off to catch up with the coughing man.

Diro watched her as she turned the corner, 'How could she identify her father by only his cough?'

Ino smiled at the two boys, "How about we get you two home. You'll be needing your rest for _training _tomorrow."

Ryou and Diro shivered at the tone of her last few words and followed their sensei towards their homes.

...  
**Thank-you for reading Chapter three!**

**They finally met Shikamaru! :D**

**My midterm week still isn't quite over, so it may be **

**a couple of days before I can update again, but **

**I'll try to update tomorrow!**

**Please let me know what you thought! I read **

**every single review or PM and I appreciate what**

**you have to say! :3**


	4. Vision Problems

**Though this does not pertain to this story,**

**I would like to thank moonlightrurouni for her **

**comment on my other story, The Clouds and the Wind.**

**It really made me feel accomplished to have affected **

**someone with my words.**

**Also thank-you everyone who has read so far and reviewed,**

**favorited, or followed my story! **

**Thank-you for your continued support everyone!**

**.**

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**Chapter Four:**

**Vision Problems**

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"Diro! You better get back in this house right this instant!" A very infuriated woman yelled out the door at the top of her lungs.

Diro flinched and kept running towards the training grounds, "Sorry mother! I've got training today!" He was going to be in so much trouble when he got home and he knew it. He was usually getting scolded by his mother, but when ever she yelled his first name like she had just done he was usually in serious trouble. 'I wonder what I did this time...'

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"Thank-you for helping me mommy." Yume whispered quietly to her mom, who was putting bandages over her left eye. She had to stay quiet to avoid waking her dad, because he was bound to start coughing the moment her woke up. All that frequent coughing was certainly bad for his health.

"It's no problem sweetie. That's what moms are for." She finished wrapping the bandage and covered her mouth as she began to cough.

Yume's eyes softened when she saw her mom cough, she was clearly in pain. It was written all over her face. "Are you alright mommy?"

Her mom stopped coughing and calmly walked over to the sink to wash the blood off of her hands, "I'm fine sweetie. It's you I'm concerned about." After drying her hands she gently ran her thumb over the bandages concealing Yume's left eye. "Does it hurt?"

Yume slowly nodded, "Whenever I open it and it's exposed to light, but I can't see through it." She didn't want to worry her mom, but she had to tell the truth. Lying to her would be terrible and she couldn't do that.

The woman placed her hands on her daughter's shoulders, "Yume, you can't tell anyone about your eye. If anyone asks, tell them you ran into a wall or something. Lie just this once."

"Alright mommy."

.

"See you later ma!" Ryou said as he opened the front door, "I'm leaving for training now!"

"Okay Ryou." His mother answered from the kitchen, "Don't forget to tell your sensei about the clan meeting in the mountains next week. You have to go this year." He was a genin now and had responsibilities inside the clan, and their tradition stated that he had to go to the mountains for some ceremony that only the clan elders knew the details about.

"I won't." Ryou smiled as he walked out the door, "Bye!"

"Bye Ryou, give training your best today, as always!" She smiled as her only child ran out to go train beside his fellow shinobi. Being a ninja had already changed him so significantly. He would actually wake up in the morning excited for something. She didn't have to drag him out of bed, literally, like she used to.

.

Ino dipped her finger in the pond at the training grounds, "Perfect."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow in response, "It's the beginning of December. I seriously hope that you don't think that almost-frozen ponds are perfect for swimming in." That would be a sure fire way to catch hypothermia.

"I seriously hope that you don' seriously think that I'm stupid enough to think that this pond is perfect for swimming in." She said as she stood up, "We won't be swimming in it, they'll be walking on it."

'Chakra control practice. I see. The near-freezing water will serve as a powerful deterrent from falling in. Clever.' He looked towards the entrance, "They're here." He looked at the genin, 'There's something wrong with Yume'

Ino spun around on her hells to face the genin, who were still quite a distance away. "Gooood Mooorning! I hope that you're all ready to get wet!"

All three students gulped, "She's punishing us, isn't she?" Ryou said, feeling slightly frightened.

"I think so." Diro responded, with a barely noticeable hint of trepidation in his voice.

Yume slid her copy of Wuthering Heights into her bag and held her hands behind her back, "I told you two that it was a bad idea..."

.

Yume was sitting on top of the water as Ryou feel into the freezing abyss yet again. Diro and Yume sighed in unison. They had both gotten it over an hour ago.

Ryou swam up to the surface of the water, "I'm sorry guys, I'm just very bad at this for some reason."

Diro muttered underneath his breath, "It's not the only thing you're bad at." He was already in a terrible mood and the fact that they were waiting on Ryou was really testing his patience and making him even more frustrated.

"Hey!" Ryou shouted, "I heard that!"

'Here they go again...' Yume stood up an immediately felt a wave of dizziness wash over her. She pushed it aside for a moment, "Please don't argue... We're a team and we really should act more like it..." she walked off of the water and over to a tree and leaned her forehead against its bark to hopefully stop the world's spinning.

"Yume, are you alright?" Ino asked. It was unusual for her to leave Ryou and Diro like that, especially when they were arguing. She would always try to stop them instead of just walking away.

"I'm alright Miss Ino-Sensei." Her tone was really low and dragging even though she desperately tried to cover up how much pain she was in. How much her head felt like it was about to explode. She silently prayed that Ino would stop asking questions and leave it at that. She really did not want to have to lie to her sensei.

"What happened to your eye?" Ino stepped beside her, "Did you get hurt or something?"

Yume sighed, feeling guilty already, "Kinda..."

Ino began unraveling the bandages to examine her eye, "You should have told me! I might be able to help!"

Yume quickly covered her eye with her hand and took a step back, "It's.. Alright Miss Ino-Sensei... Really..." The situation was getting bad rapidly for her.

Ino realized that Yume was definitely hiding something, "Yume yet me see your eye."

Yume shook her head. She had made a promise to her mom, she wasn't about to go back on her word willingly.

Ino glared at Yume for the first time, "Yume I'm not asking you to let me see your eye. As your sensei, I'm _ordering _you to let me see your eye."

Yume squinted her eyes shut and dropped her hands to her sides, feeling extremely defeated. "My mom said not to let anyone look at it, or even tell anyone about it."

"Well, I need to see your eye." She didn't realize how harsh she was being to the fragile girl until after the words had flown out of her mouth, but she would have to save the apology for afterwards.

Yume took a deep breath to prepare herself for the pain of her eye being exposed to the sunlight and slowly opened her eyes, carefully watching her sensei's reaction.

Ino looked at Yume's left eye. Her pupil was gone, like her iris and pupil had melted together to form a single cerulean orb. Across the blue were thin black diagonal slashes. Ino couldn't hold back her gasp, "Aoigan."

...

**Thank-you for reading! Everything is going **

**to start picking up really soon. **

**Please let me know what you have thought**

**of this chapter and the story thus far.**

**.**

**If you haven't already, and have time to spare,**

**please read my other story, The Clouds**

**and The Wind. It's a short ShikaTema one shot**

**and let me know what you think of it!**

**-Scepidilionz-**


	5. A Good Parent

**Hi, everyone!**

**I am terribly sorry that I have not updated in almost a week!**

**Life has just been chucking problems at me… : (**

**Good news is, I did finally get my own laptop, so I will**

**Presumably be able to type more frequently,**

**However, (Because there's always a catch to everything.)**

**This said laptop is such a dinosaur that fanfiction does not function properly on it.**

**This means I still have to update using my other computer.**

**I also lost my flash drive for awhile, but I finally found it!**

**On the positive side, THANK-YOU EVERYONE!**

**I will never be able to say it enough.**

**Thank-you for giving this story over a thousand views!**

**Thank-you for reviewing, Favoriting, and following!**

**But most of all…**

**Thank-you for reading!**

**.**

**.**

**.**

**Chapter Five:**

**A Good Parent**

**.**

"Would you like any tea?" Yume's mom asked Shikamaru as she held the teapot in her hand, "I just finished preparing it."

Shikamaru shook his head and politely answered, "No thank-you." Ino was with Yume in her room keeping her distracted while he would be speaking with the young kunoichi's parents. Why had they asked Yume to hide her Kekkei Genkai? They were civilians, so maybe they didn't know that Yume's eye would be seen as a gift and not a curse, but he doubted it. Maybe they didn't even know that it was a Kekkei Genkai all together.

Yume's dad cleared his throat before he spoke, "This is about Yume's eye, isn't it?" He had been worried that shinobi would eventually come to ask about it, but he had no idea that it would happen so soon. That's why he and his wife had agreed not to tell anyone about it, they didn't want their precious daughter to feel threatened in any way.

"It is." Shikamaru straightened his back, "I need to know everything, from when it started to now. "Symptoms, unusual behavior, anything." He needed to know as much as he could about her Kekkei Genkai's past in order to be able to predict its future. Ino had originally been the one who wanted to question Yume's parents, but the Hokage had given the job to Shikamaru. More work was more of a bother.

Her father was the next one to speak, with a hoarse voice as if he had just gotten over a cold, "It hasn't been very long since it become more apparent, but she has had vision problems ever since she was an infant. We even thought that she was blind for a short while." He began to cough and stood up, "Excuse me." He headed off into another room and Shikamaru heard the coughing fit continue.

Shikamaru noticed the man's wife look towards the room with fear and concern flashing in her eyes. Shikamaru calmly spoke, "If I may ask, is he sick?"

She nodded and her voice cracked, "We both are. It's incurable and genetic…" Tears came flooding to her eyes as she desperately fought to hold them back, "We both pray everyday that Yume doesn't have it."

.

Ino sat on the bed in the colorful pastel themed room among a plethora of Yume's favorite stuffed animals. The room was a young girl's heaven, but Ino was still surprised that Yume had not out grown such toys.

Yume was curled up in the corner of the room leaning against a lilac wall. She was hugging her knees, as if they were going to protect her from something. She faintly heard the sound of her father's cough and drew her knees closer to her heart and struggled to hold back her warm tears, crying in front of others was a sign of weakness. She couldn't remember a single day where she didn't hear her father's lungs cry out in pain and frustration, desperately trying to take in the oxygen that he needed to survive. She didn't even know what his ailment was; all she knew was that he had been sick from the moment she was born. Even her mother had begun to show some of the same symptoms that he had and it worried her.

Ino noticed Yume's state and tried to strike up a conversation to get her mind off of the situation. She reached over to Yume's nightstand and picked up a book, "Wuthering Heights." She read the title aloud and twitched at the literary nightmare of copious modern high school students. The book was very well taken care of, though clearly read many times. The book's binding was worn down and there were prints in the leather, though everything else about the book's condition was impeccable.

Yume whispered from her corner, "It's my favorite." She fell in love with it when she first read the Victorian-styled novel for the first time when she was seven. She had probably read it literally over a thousand times. She still had her original copy that her parents got her for her birthday; it was actually the one that Ino was holding at the moment. She was well aware that Ino was trying to distract her, "Miss Ino-sensei." She folded her arms, "What is Mister Shikamaru-sensei talking to my parents about?"

Ino set the book down where she found it. This was the very conversation that she had been trying to avoid, "You." She didn't want to say much more, it might intimidate her.

"Why?" She sat up and folded her arms. Her voice was unusually aggressive unlike her normal gentle tone. Why did they have to get her parents involved?

Ino got up and sat beside her student. Even though Yume, Ryou, and Diro had only been her students for a short time, she almost felt like they were her own kids. She felt like she knew a lot about each of them and their personalities, she had even already memorized some of their behavioral quirks. But even through all of that, she had never seen Yume act like she was now and that concerned her. "We just need to know how you acted when you were younger. Stuff that you probably wouldn't remember."

"Well." She pouted and looked away, "I could tell you everything that I _do_ remember." She felt Ino's hand on her shoulder and looked over.

"You're acting unusually snappy." She said as bluntly to her as she could to let Yume know how she was acting. She hugged her, "What's wrong? Something is clearly bothering you."

"He's getting my parents worked up." Yume paused and struggled her way out of the embrace. "They're sick!" She was actually yelling, which made Ino's heart skip a beat. "They shouldn't be worried about anything!"

Ino blinked in shock then her face became solemn, "I- I'm sorry…" She was extremely shocked that Yume actually yelled at her. She must be extremely emotionally distraught if she was having such a strong and powerful response to the situation.

Yume wiped tears from her eyes and replied almost inaudibly, "I'm sorry for yelling…"

.

"Does Yume know the truth?" Shikamaru asked in regards to the illness.

"No." The woman shook her head slowly, "We both agreed a long time ago to keep it a secret from her. She's such a caring child, if she found out she would constantly worry."

Shikamaru studied her expression. She knew that Yume was intelligent enough to figure the entire thing out, if she hadn't already. He knew it as well. Even though he had only known Ino's team for a few days, he was well aware that all three genin were highly intelligent. Diro had challenged him to a Shogi match, and he was actually looking forward to it. Diro would possibly present him with a challenge in the game, one he hadn't had for a long time. He stood up and shook her hand, "Thank-you for you and your husband giving up your time to speak with me. Ino and I will be leaving now."

"Mhm." She nodded and smiled, "Yume really trusts the both of you. She thinks of you two as a second set of parents."

.

Ino sat out on the roof of her house, staring up at the twinkling stars, her mind wandering in her thoughts. She didn't even realize that it was already midnight.

The chunin exams were only a short while away, and they had very limited time to train. Ryou would be going away for about a week and Yume couldn't see out of one eye; both were things holding them back. She wanted them to be able to participate, but she didn't want them to get hurt and end up not making it out alive. She knew Diro was ready, his analytical mind could get him out of almost any situation, but Ryou and Yume were the problem.

Ryou had terrible chakra control and was having difficulty keeping up with his team-mates, and even though he was hiding it, it was definitely frustrating him. Having to take a week off was only putting him even further behind.

Yume's eye would be a serious detriment during the team-work and combat portions of the exam. It wouldn't hold her back during the written portion, but it could end up getting her killed in the other two portions. She was capable of fighting with only half of her vision, but she wouldn't be up to her full potential.

She would have to make her final decision when Ryou got back from his family meeting. If Yume's eye hadn't healed by then, she would have to hold them back a year, no matter how much they complained about it.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the distant sound of Christmas music and she sat up with a realization, "It's almost Christmas!"

**Once again, I apologize that this chapter took FOREVER!**

**It's been way over a week, I know,**

**But I have been thinking about updating constantly.**

**(Just believe me on that one.)**

**Hopefully there isn't such a long time gap between this and the next chapter,**

**But the next few weeks will be extremely busy for me.**

**Even though midterms are finally over, I still have a myriad of things to prepare for.**

**(Yay, linguistic competition!)**

**Thank-you everyone for taking the time out to read my story, it means a lot.**

**Please let me know what you thought!**

**-Scepidilionz-**


	6. Broken Tears

**Hello everyone!**

**It has been quite awhile, I know.**

**My laptop hasn't had a charger, and still doesn't,**

**and typing in my living room on the desktop doesn't**

**exactly help with concentration.**

**But here I am! Typing!**

**I hope I haven't bothered any of you with**

**this ridiculous wait. **

**Thank-you for your continued support,**

**even when I was absent!**

**.**

**.**

**.**

**Chapter Six:**

**Broken Tears**

**.**

"Gosh, I just love Christmas time!" Tenten happily cheered with Ino along-side her, getting into the Christmas spirit. Her breath clung to the air with every exhale, "All of the lights, and everyone is just so kind to each other!"

Ino gazed at some of the colorful lights as she walked passed another street vendor, this one selling hot chocolate. "Kind?" She chuckled slightly, "If by kind you mean fighting each other in the mall!" Every year, in every village, it was the same. Fights always break out between frustrated shopper attempting to get the best of what is left on the shelves. No matter where you went there was somebody arguing over how they should have the last toy train, doll, or stuffed animal for their child or loved one.

The weapons expert sighed, "True... Well at least in the story books, and stereotypical Christmases people are kind to each other..." Her expression changed as she looked up into the sky, at the glittering stars. The way they and the lights hanging above the streets connecting the buildings blended together above the base of the dark blue night sky was fascinating.

"So..." Ino's tone changed from her previous laughter to a slightly more serious, though almost mocking one, "Whatcha getting Neji? Are you two gonna spend Christmas Eve snuggled together up by the fire?"

Crimson spread across Tenten's cheeks in a flash, and she turned her face away to hide her visage from her gossip queen of a friend, "We're not like that and you know it..."

"Not like that _yet_ and _you_ know it!" She laughed, "Isn't that what Christmas does to people? Makes them realize that they had love in front of them all along?"

Tenten turned her face bake to Ino, her blood having calmed down after the mention of the Hyuga. "Well, what about you and Shikamaru then? You do have all those kids following you two around, and you seem quite good at taking care of them together!" She stuck out her tongue now feeling like the victorious one. She then started sprinting backwards away from the soon to be furious blonde.

"Hey! You get back here!" She shouted and began to dash off after her friend and shopping partner.

...

The morning after Christmas came and Ino woke up quite excited, though also extremely tired. She had spent all of the previous night staying up and wrapping her team's presents. She was going to meet her team at the park to give them their gifts and to celebrate the upcoming exam.

She plopped back down onto her bed and stretched, letting out a squeak-like yawn. Everything had changed so much, and while being a sensei could be stressful at times, it sure was a lot of fun.

She got up and changed into a light pink floral dress. It was slightly longer on her left side and had a violet silk waist band about an inch thick. Around the arm hemmings were tiny yellow and white carnations. She really like how around the bottom, the satin seemed to sparkle in sunlight. All around the dress were faint floral designs panted on the satin, floating over the delicate shade of lavender pink of the layer underneath.

Undoubtedly they would have something planned, they always do, it was just a matter of finding out what.

She was just running to the door as her doorbell rang, and since she was already there, she answered immediately, "Ryou? Diro? What are you doing here? Where's Yume?" They were supposed to be at the park, not her door-step, and Yume was _definitely_ supposed to be with them.

Ryou sighed and hung his head in resignation, "That's the thing, we can't find her... We searched all over the park and yet there was no sign of her..."

"I said we should search else where but Ryou insisted that we come and tell you first." Diro crossed his arms feeling defiant as usual. He could have found Yume, how hard could it possibly be to find a single girl?

Ino smiled nervously feeling the usual tension between the two, in a way, they definitely reminded her of Sasuke and Naruto. "Did you check her tree by our training grounds?"

Ryou looked startled, "She owns a tree?!" He then received a few of the 'you-are-a-moron' glares from Diro, making him realize that he had asked possibly the stupidest question that a genius on a team full of other genius shinobi could possibly ask, "Oh... ha ha... Just joking..." Causing Diro to face-palm.

"Well..." Ino grabbed her bag that she had set the presents in the previous night from right behind the door, "Let's go find her!"

...

The team searched all over Konoha for their missing member; the park, the Ichiraku's ramen, the academy, they even knocked on her door, but no one was home. And now, as a last resort, they were going to check the river in their training grounds, the one place they had neglected to check before.

To their surprise, they found Yume sitting there on one of the larger rocks on the perimeter of the river, kicking her bare feet into the water in an almost robotic fashion. She was starring at the water with the most melancholy expression.

Ryou was so excited to find her he nearly tackled her into the water, while everyone else was still running to catch up. Ino and Diro were quite surprised with how quickly the predominately lazy boy could run when he wanted to.

"Yume! Where were you this morning? We were looking all over for you!" Diro and Ino finally caught up as he was hugging Yume, practically to death.

Yume slowly pushed Ryou off of her, "I've been here." The way she responded was exceedingly cold and heartless, it made all of them shiver. It was terribly unlike her, she was the kind of girl who would freak-out and blush after being hugged by a boy, and yet, she didn't.

"Yume..." Ino was now more than concerned, Yume definitely wasn't acting like herself, "Is everything alright?" She sat down beside her with concern written all over her eyes.

Yume then tackled Ino, hugging her, tears suddenly flooding out of her cerulean eyes, "Daddy is gone!"

...

...

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**Let me know what you thought, **

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**~Scepidilionz~**


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